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CLIMATE CRISIS III

WWF Climate Publications

THE IMPACT
ON OUR CITIES

Sydney is Australia's oldest, largest, and most colourful city, straddling one of the world's finest natural harbours. Its superb surfing beaches and sheltered bays attract millions of tourists every year.

On the other side of the world, the architectural glories of Venice have long made it a jewel in the crown of Europe. Built on a group of small islands in a lagoon at the head of the Adriatic Sea, its intricate network of canals has supported its citizens since the first century ad.

Bangkok, too, is a city of canals. Covering 560 square kilometres, it was built on the banks of the Menam Chao Phraya River, one of Southeast Asia's dominant waterways. The city's comprehensive canal system is home to thousands of people who live in floating houses.

The world's third most populous city is Shanghai, strategically situated on the Huangbu River, on the east coast of China. It is surrounded by rich agricultural land, but in order to function, the badly polluted river has to be dredged frequently.

These four cities have two things in common: not only are they
low-lying, but the rivers on which they stand flow into nearby great seas or oceans. They and many other conurbations throughout the world (Santiago de Chile, for instance) could be seriously threatened if global warming continues at its present rate: underground infrastructure ranging from railways to sewers is likely to be overwhelmed, bridges put at risk, homes inundated, and streets made impassable. 

 

GLOSSARY

straddling: extending, occupying (ocupando)
harbours: ports, where ships can take on or discharge cargoes (puertos)
dredge
: dragged, remove with a dredge (usually from the bottom of a river) (dragado)
low-lying: lying below the normal sea-level (situadas bajo el nivel del mar)

conurbation: urban community (conurbano)
threatened
: in serious danger, menaced (amenazados)
sewers
: cloacae, conduits that carry away sewage or surface water (desagües cloacales)
overwhelmed: inundated, flooded (inundados)

Click here to read CLIMATE CRISIS IV

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